Wakefield Trinity full-back Will Dagger completes York Knights switch after positive Valkyrie experience

The versatile full-back has signed a three-year contract with the ambitious Championship club.

Dagger began his career at Warrington Wolves and made his Super League debut as an 18-year-old in 2017.

The Castleford-born back enjoyed a long spell with Hull KR before linking up with Wakefield in the early stages of this season.

Dagger made a positive impression during his 17-game stay at Belle Vue but could not prevent the club from dropping out of the top flight.

After getting a taste of York as the assistant coach of the women's team, Dagger is ready to make an impact on the field.

"I'm very happy to have signed for the Knights," said Dagger, whose partner Georgie Hetherington plays for York Valkyrie.

"I've been given an insight into what the club has got to offer and where it's going while working with York Valkyrie this year.

"I'm really happy to be here and hopefully we can have a good season in 2024 and be up there pushing towards the top of the table.

"Speaking to Clint (Goodchild, chairman) through my role at the Valkyrie, he mentioned that he'd been keeping an eye on me and that him and Hendo (Andrew Henderson, head coach) liked the way I was playing.

"I spoke to them about how they saw the club progressing and it really excited me."

Henderson views the addition of Dagger as an important signing for the Knights.

"Full-back was a position that we were looking to strengthen in terms of our quality and depth and bringing Will to the club gives us that," said Henderson.

"He’s a tremendous full-back who is experienced at Super League level. He will bring a lot of quality attributes in terms of tempo of run, his skill out of the back, his positional play and his competitive edge, which is the main thing I admired in his game.

“For Will, this is a real opportunity for him to establish himself as the number one, if he performs to the levels that we know he can.

“Will is only 24 years old so we believe he has his best rugby league ahead of him. We’re really excited to see what he can bring now and where he can go to in the future.”